this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2025
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We have three cars. Two EVs that are primaries. The third is a Miata that's used for Miata things. It works out fine as long as we plan things out.
Batteries rolling off assembly lines right now basically give as much range as needed. It takes a few years for car manufactures to get new components into actual cars, but that's just engineering work at this point. We're not waiting on lab breakthroughs to convert into practical manufactured batteries. Both range and weight will thus likely be fixed in the next couple years. The only place for hybrids left will be a few odd people who travel exceptionally far every day as a job.
We frequently travel >500 miles on road trips, often 800+ in a single day. If we used an EV, that trip would take an extra 1-2 hours, depending on how charging stations are spaced out (and they're spaced pretty far out in many areas in the US). We do one or two such trips every year, and my parents do it about 3-4x/year to visit grand kids and whatnot.
A hybrid fills that gap perfectly. You can use it for local trips and still get pretty decent efficiency, or you can use it for road trips and get pretty good range (gas stops add <30 min to the total trip, and they're everywhere).
If EVs get >400 miles range (preferably >500 miles range), I would agree with you. But until that happens, there's a pretty big niche for hybrid cars.
This now gets into human limitations. If you're doing straight 500 miles without a break, you are running into safety issues. You need a break. Both for your own health--sitting that long is not good--and for others--your attention is not holding up.
In other words, a 350 mile EV that needs 20-30 minutes to charge is forcing you to do what you're supposed to be doing anyway.
Not really. It's pretty easy for two drivers to take turns, you just pull off to the side, swap spots, and then keep going.